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R-CALF USA, Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America, represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on domestic and international trade and marketing issues. R-CALF USA, a national, non-profit organization, is dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA's membership consists primarily of cow-calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and feedlot owners. Its members are located in 46 states, and the organization has many local and state association affiliates, from both cattle and farm organizations. Various main street businesses are associate members of R-CALF USA.
With a very small staff, R-CALF USA is dependent on its 15 directors, several committee chairs and numerous other volunteers. Articles upload to op-ed news are written by various staff or volunteers, and unless recognized in the article, should be attributed to the organization and not an individual.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 Group to Congress, Administration: Begin Enforcement of Antitrust Laws, Finalize GIPSA Rule, Take Immediate Steps to El (1 comments)
In meetings held earlier this month, R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard and R-CALF USA member Judy McCullough, a Wyoming cow/calf rancher and past president of the Independent Cattlemen of Wyoming, urged the U.S. Department of Justice (Justice), the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) GIPSA, the U.S. Senate agriculture committee, and members of Congress to immediately begin enforcement of antitrust laws, finalize the GIPSA co
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 CEO Testifies in Support of Wall Street Reform Act That Would Bring Transparency to Cattle Markets
"We think the most important thing is to bring transparency to the opaque markets like swaps or over-the-counter trades and we think the priority for the CFTC should be to implement those as quickly as possible, because it's one thing for an industry to change because of competitive forces...
Saturday, February 12, 2011 Wall Street Reform Act Already Benefiting Cattle Industry
We applaud the CFTC for this enforcement action and urge the agency to investigate the cattle futures market even further," Thornsberry concluded.
Friday, February 11, 2011 Evidence Suggests Corruption Runs Deep in Beef Checkoff Program
R-CALF USA is again calling for a thorough and probing investigation, going back at least 10 years, into NCBA's long history of Checkoff violations. R-CALF USA has furnished investigators with documents that list dates and locations of NCBA's policy activities that should not have been subsidized with Checkoff funds.
Thursday, December 9, 2010 NCBA, NPPC Help Packers Capture U.S. Cattle Supply Chain
Using copies of numerous NCBA charts within its comprehensive comments, R-CALF USA charges that NCBA et al are masking the true condition of the cattle industry by disseminating only partial and ambiguous industry data and omitting relevant data. R-CALF USA states that NCBA et al's actions "have effectively misled many cattle producers by deflecting their attention away from the serious crisis presently facing...
Thursday, December 2, 2010 As Mad Cow Disease Scientist Prusiner Awarded Nat'l. Medal of Science, Group Urges USDA to Withdraw OTM Rule (2 comments)
In a letter sent today to President Barack Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, R-CALF USA commended the presidential selection of Stanley B. Prusiner as a recipient of the government's highest honor for scientists - the National Medal of Science... "We urge you to reassess completely your Administration's position regarding USDA's open OTM rule that is undeniably underpinned by the maligned actions of USDA..."
Sunday, November 21, 2010 Congress Hears from Real Producers Why GIPSA Rule Needed
"Rather than bring professional lobbyists to Washington to persuade Congress to support the ongoing corporatization of our nation's livestock supply chains, our Competition Coalition brought actual livestock producers to D.C. to provide firsthand accounts of how their profitability has been improperly squeezed by monopolistic packers and how the GIPSA rule would restrict meatpackers from exercising their monopolistic power,"
Tuesday, November 9, 2010 Broken Markets, Broke Cattlemen, Bad Statistics, Worse Economics
"It's interesting that Speer cites about 10 economists who have, themselves, cautioned the industry against tying contract prices to the cash market," Bullard concluded. "As Dr. Taylor points out, based on relative returns, a common-sense "country doctor of economy' would declare the meatpackers and food retailers to be "healthy, bordering on obesity,' but cattlemen as "sickly' and in need of major corrective treatment."
Sunday, November 7, 2010 Meatpacker Apologists Engage in Deceptive Smear Campaign Against USDA Official (1 comments)
"Meatpackers' apologists, some of whom claim to be journalists, are openly engaged in an unethical smear campaign targeted at Dudley Butler, Administrator of USDA's (U.S. Department of Agriculture's) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA), who heads the agency charged with overseeing the livestock procurement practices of meatpackers by enforcing the 1921 Packers and Stockyards Act,"
Tuesday, November 2, 2010 Americans to be Pummeled by Yet Another "Sky-Is-Falling" Pro-Meatpacker Study
"We're not expecting anything even close to the truth when these pro-meatpacker groups unveil their self-serving study, and based on the history of the consulting firm they've used and the hype they're trying to generate, we'd better be prepared for a spectacular deception,"
Saturday, October 23, 2010 AMI Study Attacks GIPSA Rule, Exemplifies Abusive Monopolistic Power of the Concentrated Packing Industry
"The entire study is based on the outrageous threat that packers likely will collude to destroy certain marketing arrangements that benefit everyone in the marketing chain from consumers to retailers to packers to cattle producers by providing high quality beef for consumers," said R-CALF USA President/Region VI Director Max Thornsberry.
Thursday, October 21, 2010 GIPSA Complaint Against Brazilian-Owned JBS Demonstrates Need for GIPSA Competition Rule
"If the allegation proves correct, and if each of the 16 lots of hogs was separately owned by 16 independent hog producers, then the loss alleged in the complaint represents an average loss per hog producer of $21,875," said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. "For a family sized hog operation, this amount of loss could well mean the end of their ability to stay in business."
Thursday, October 21, 2010 Group Applauds USDA Decision to Proceed with GIPSA Rule; Calls NCBA Attack on USDA Deceitful, Irresponsible
U.S. Agriculture Vilsack reportedly declined the request by 115 members of Congress to complete a comprehensive economic analysis of the proposed competition rule (GIPSA rule) published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA).
Saturday, October 9, 2010 Open Action Alert Regarding GIPSA Rule to All U.S. Cattle Producers
The packer lobby is fighting to derail the proposed competition rule (GIPSA rule) issued by the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA). They are making outrageous claims that misrepresent the purpose and effect of the GIPSA rule. Unfortunately, very few people understand how the fed cattle market functions, where it is broken, and why the GIPSA rule is urgently needed...
Wednesday, October 6, 2010 Corporate Control Over U.S. Lawmakers Evident In Congressional Letter Attacking GIPSA Rule (2 comments)
Rural America now has proof that the packer lobby --" the handful of multinational meatpacking corporations and their allied trade associations** which has caused the hollowing-out of rural communities for decades --" has infiltrated Congress so deeply that even the President's own political party is refusing to carry out the President's campaign promise to restore competition to agricultural markets for U.S. family farmers
Thursday, September 9, 2010 New BSE Case in Netherlands Prompts Group to Again Call for USDA to Withdraw Its Over-30-Months Rule
A new case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease) in the Netherlands has prompted R-CALF USA to once again request the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to withdraw its OTM (over-30-months) Rule that allows all Canadian cattle born on or after March 1, 1999, to be imported into the United States.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 Cattle Producers, Farm Advocates Laud Senate Support of USDA's Proposed Livestock Competition Rule
The Senators' "Dear Colleague' letter to USDA comes on the heels of increasingly vehement opposition to the proposed rule by the meatpacking and processing companies. The proposed rule would restore necessary balance between cattle and hog producers and the packers that buy their livestock, and would also prohibit some of the most egregious practices that are now common in the contract poultry industry.
Thursday, August 12, 2010 Analysis Concludes GIPSA Competition Rule Would Have No Impact On U.S. Premium Beef's Marketing Arrangements
R-CALF USA found that according to the Competition Rule, USPB would not be subject to provisions within the rule because USPB is not a packer, stockyard owner, market agency or a dealer. Furthermore, USPB is neither on the USDA-GIPSA list of Bonded Packers in the United States, which is current as of Feb. 1, 2010, nor is it on USDA-GIPSA lists of registered and bonded market agencies and dealers.
Thursday, August 12, 2010 Is It Because They Have the Truth to Hide? NCBA, AMI, NMA Decline Opportunity for Public Debate
Last month, KSDZ radio in Gordon, Neb., invited these four groups to participate in an open, public debate in light of the new competition rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) that would establish measures to benefit cattle farmers and ranchers and make the U.S. cattle market more transparent and competitive.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010 Group Eagerly Accepts Invitation to Debate State of Competition in U.S. Cattle and Beef Industries with NCBA, AMI & NMA
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard today eagerly accepted an invitation from KSDZ-FM in Gordon, Neb., to a live debate -" streamed on the Internet -" at 6:30 p.m. MDT on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010, with leaders from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), the American Meat Institute (AMI) and the National Meat Association (NMA). The subject will be the current state of competition in the U.S. cattle and beef industries.
Friday, July 16, 2010 NCBA/AMI/NPPC Requests to Extend Comment Period on Proposed GIPSA Rule are Baseless
"As far back as at least 2001 for example, both NCBA and the NPPC formally voiced their objections to granting USDA new authority to "regulate corporate relationships, commercial practices and contracts for the production of agricultural commodities,' and, at the same time, they also have objected to any new laws that would address competition-related issues," said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard.
Saturday, June 19, 2010 Group Calls USDA Rulemaking "Bold" and "Absolutely Essential"
"This proposed rule corrects the core problem that prevents U.S. cattle farmers and ranchers from obtaining relief from the anticompetitive practices of the highly concentrated meatpackers and will help restore competition to our industry by providing a means to discipline anticompetitive behavior," asserted Thornsberry.
Monday, April 19, 2010 USDA's Proposed Brazil-FMD Rule Inaccurate, Unscientific
R-CALF USA today called the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) proposed rule to lift foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) restrictions on Brazil inaccurate and unscientific.
Sunday, April 4, 2010 76 Groups Representing Tens of Millions Implore USDA to Immediately Strengthen Protections Against Mad Cow Disease (2 comments)
R-CALF USA today, along with 75 other organizations that represent tens of millions of Americans, sent formal correspondence to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to request that the agency immediately strengthen protections against Canada's ongoing problems with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease.
Saturday, March 13, 2010 Ranchers, Manufacturers, Organized Labor Push Congress to Develop National Trade Strategy (1 comments)
Visits to approximately 80 congressional offices were made last week when ranchers teamed up with U.S. manufacturers and organized labor groups to tell Congress that current U.S. trade policy has failed America, and it is past time for the U.S. to do what every other major trading nation has already done -" implement a national trade strategy that promotes domestic productivity and economic growth.
Saturday, March 13, 2010 Hidden from Public for Almost 2 Weeks: Canada's 18th BSE-Infected Cow (1 comments)
Yet again, R-CALF USA learned through the rumor mill yesterday that Canada had detected the country's 18th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a 72-month-old Angus cow. Although Canadian officials were purported to have notified the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) last week, a phone call this morning to OIE revealed that Canada had not yet notified OIE of this latest discovery.
Thursday, January 14, 2010 Group Demonstrates AMI's Attack on COOL Not Factual
"AMI has been fighting for nearly a decade against the public's right to know where their food is produced, but what AMI really is fighting over is control over the cattle and beef markets," Bullard pointed out. "Prior to COOL, meatpackers could source cattle anywhere they could obtain them cheaper.
Thursday, December 10, 2009 Group Praises Portions of USDA's New TB Plan But Strongly Opposes Zoning That Usurps States' Rights (2 comments)
R-CALF USA on Dec. 4, 2009, filed formal comments with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding the agency's proposal to revamp the United States' bovine tuberculosis (TB) program, a program that has significantly reduced the prevalence of TB in U.S. livestock since 1917.
Monday, November 2, 2009 Stop the Hemorrhaging in U.S. Live Cattle Industry: Producers to President, Congress, USDA and Justice
“The U.S. cattle industry, literally, is the last frontier within the U.S. livestock and poultry industries...It is the only remaining major livestock sector that is not already nearly completely vertically integrated by the mega-meatpackers and processors from birth-to-plate"but this distinction cannot last long under the ongoing and unbearable financial losses plaguing its independent participants.”
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 Canada, Mexico $1.3 Billion Short of Claiming COOL Harm Group Tells USDA, USTR
R-CALF USA's letter contends that economic harm must be measured from a balanced trade relationship and explains that the reason Canada and Mexico cannot begin to measure an economic harm “is because these combined countries continue to enjoy the unmitigated, windfall spoils emanating from an imbalanced trade relationship with the United States, to the tune of $1.3 billion annually.”
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Group Calls Justice Department's Refusal to Block JBS Mega-Merger A Broken Presidential Promise
In our opinion, the Justice Department's action in refusing to fully investigate the antitrust implications of the unprecedented merger between JBS and Pilgrim's Pride ... when these firms both control and market substitutable, competing proteins, is an irrepressible defiance of President Obama's promise to ensure competitive markets for the nation's farmers and ranchers,
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Group Calls NCBA's Attack on COOL Downright Deceptive
Sixteen R-CALF USA officers, directors and committee chairs today sent a strong five-page letter to the NCBA calling NCBA's public response to Canada's Oct. 7, 2009, announcement that it would pursue a complaint at the WTO against the United States' COOL law “intolerable, irresponsible and deceptive, as well as a tremendous disservice to the hard-working men and women who comprise the U.S. live cattle industry.”
Saturday, October 10, 2009 Yet Again, Canada Tries to File WTO Complaint Against U.S. COOL Law
The Canadian government is seeking a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement process over the U.S. mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law. A WTO panel is scheduled to hear the request at the Oct. 23, 2009, meeting of WTO's Dispute Settlement Body.
Friday, October 9, 2009 Cattle Producers Could Lose Up to $89/Head if JBS Acquires Pilgrim's Pride
“A loss of anywhere from $7.50 per head to $89.38 per head to the U.S. live cattle industry would have severe ramifications, particularly given the long-run lack of profitability faced by U.S. cattle feeders who have experienced 22 consecutive months of horrendous financial losses,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard.
Saturday, October 3, 2009 93 Groups to Ag Approps Conference Committee: Eliminate NAIS Funding Altogether
NAIS is a far-reaching 3-step program that calls for every person who owns even one livestock or poultry animal to register their property, tag each animal when it leaves the property it was born on, and report a long list of movements to a database within 24 hours, and these provisions apply whether or not that animal is used for commercial purposes, which will impact millions of animal owners,
Monday, September 28, 2009 Group Urges Justice Department to Block JBS/Pilgrim's Pride Merger
In an effort to protect and preserve a competitive market for independent U.S. cattle producers, R-CALF USA this week sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting that it block the proposed merger of Brazilian-owned JBS S.A. (JBS) and Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (Pilgrim's Pride).
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 Group Urges U.S. Trade Representative to Reject Free Trade Agreement with Colombia
In formal comments filed this week, R-CALF USA urged the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to reject the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with Colombia (U.S.-Colombia FTA). A notice and request for comments on the proposed FTA was published in the Federal Register by USTR in July, with comments due September 15.
Monday, September 21, 2009 Group Calls Message to Congress by NCBA, AFBF, and W. Ron DeHaven, D.V.M., Unscientific, Irresponsible, and Deceptive
R-CALF USA today letter to members on the Homeland Security Appropriations Conference Committee urging them to disregard the deceptive plea jointly made by a group that includes the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA), American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), and W. Ron DeHaven, D.V.M., whom are seeking to introduce the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus on the U.S. mainland for research purposes.
Saturday, September 12, 2009 Group Implores Senate to Reject House Version of Food Safety Bill, Start Anew to Genuinely Improve Food Safety
We have communicated our reasons for opposing H.R. 2749 by explaining the serious and significant flaws in the current U.S. food safety system that the House version would build upon,” said R-CALF USA President/Region VI Director Max Thornsberry. “In fact, any attempt to remedy our food safety problems by building upon the three failed components currently in place will have the opposite effect that the House intended.
Friday, August 28, 2009 Group Requests Separate Investigations into Packer's Use of Imported Canadian Cattle
Based on information received from R-CALF USA member-ranchers in Washington state, R-CALF USA on Monday, Aug. 24, 2009, made a written request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to investigate a potential violation of USDA requirements for the importation into the U.S. of Canadian cattle.
Friday, August 14, 2009 Yet Again, Group Urges USDA to Withdraw NAIS Plans
In formal comments submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Aug. 3, 2009, R-CALF USA yet again pointed out the errors of the agency's ways if it continues to force upon independent U.S. cattle producers its National Animal Identification System (NAIS): an onerous burden of untold financial implications and an unconstitutional violation of every citizen's private property rights and liberty.
Saturday, August 8, 2009 Group Requests CFTC to Reform Cattle Markets; Joins Commodity Markets Oversight Coalition
Included in R-CALF USA’s letter to the CFTC are requests to prevent packers from engaging in speculative short selling as a strategy to depress cash cattle prices, impose aggregate speculative position limits across all markets, and ensure that speculative position limits be set by physical hedgers.
The CMOC letter explains that the domination by financial speculators “has undermined the commodity markets’ function...
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 USDA Partners with Private Company to Help Sell Ear Tags to U.S. Farmers and Ranchers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has partnered with Allflex, a private multinational firm that manufactures and sells ear tags in more than seven countries, to help Allflex market, promote and sell ear tags to U.S. cattle producers.
Saturday, July 25, 2009 USDA Kowtows to Canada's Threats, Denies U.S. Citizens Truthful Information About the Origins of Their Food
"We are now witness to the unconscionable actions of a federal agency that has ignored its duty to defend our constitutionally passed COOL law, ignored the public interest and the will of Congress, and has, instead, kowtowed to the special interests of the Canadian government, all to the detriment of U.S. citizens," said Thornsberry.
Saturday, July 18, 2009 Group Talks Cattle, Beef Issues with Senate Finance Trade Team
R-CALF USA recently met with members of the Senate Finance Committee Trade Team of Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., to discuss trade issues important to the U.S. cattle industry, as the trade team traveled throughout Montana to discuss trade issues of importance to Montana industries. R-CALF USA presented the team with its "Overview of International Trade and the U.S. Cattle and Beef Industries."
Thursday, July 9, 2009 Schumacher Loses Over $260,000 from Cattle Sales to Tyson; Now Tyson Wants Schumacher's Home
Herreid, S.D., rancher and cattle feeder Herman Schumacher has suffered losses exceeding $260,000 from the sale of three pens of cattle (984 head) sold to Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. (Tyson) since January 1, 2009, yet Schumacher's three pens of cattle were top performers. "The only conclusion to be reached is that the cattle market is being manipulated by the dominant meatpackers.
Saturday, July 4, 2009 Canada, Mexico Have No Standing to Bring Complaint Against U.S. COOL Law
R-CALF USA has filed formal comments with the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to emphasize that the group believes it is fundamentally contrary to the U.S. Constitution for USTR to agree that foreign governments specifically Canada and Mexico have any standing whatsoever to bring a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) against our constitutionally passed mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) law.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 Tyson Rejects Group's Appeal for Moral Decency;
"Only in the ivory tower boardroom of a multibillion dollar company, where corporate executives are completely disconnected from cattle producers and food consumers, could a strategy like this be concocted," said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard. "To reverse its tarnished image...Tyson has now decided to use money extracted from Schumacher to help feed other farmers/ranchers who are facing economic disaster largely because of Tyson
Monday, June 29, 2009 Group Responds to Tyson Complaint Letter; (5 comments)
On the day R-CALF USA conducted its June 26, 2009, news conference before a crowd of about 150 in the small town of Herreid, S.D., to highlight Tyson Fresh Meat's (Tyson's) seizure of the home of Herreid, S.D., rancher and cattle feeder Herman Schumacher, Tyson faxed R-CALF USA a complaint letter.
Thursday, June 25, 2009 News Conference to address seizure of Herman Schumacher's home by Tyson Fresh Meats. (1 comments)
The news conference will highlight the ongoing injustice against Schumacher; will demonstrate that the Administration, Congress and the U.S. judicial system have utterly failed to protect the safety and security of our nation's food supply; and, will reveal that the concentrated beef packing industry has accumulated such untouchable power that it can freely engage in anticompetitive and antitrust behavior...
Friday, June 12, 2009 Group Submits Supplemental Comments (1 comments)
On May 15, 2009, Canada detected its 17th case of BSE, which is its 10th case born after the OTM Rule's import eligibility date, meaning that these 10 infected animals could have been imported into the U.S. prior to exhibiting symptoms of BSE. In response to this latest Canadian BSE case, R-CALF USA submitted its second set of supplemental comments to USDA last week to demonstrate that the key assumptions made by USDA...
Thursday, May 21, 2009 USDA's Lax Import Rules Expose US Cattle to Mad Cow Disease (3 comments)
Canada, which lacks mandatory testing, just announced its 17th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease) since 2003. Under current USDA rules, these higher-risk cattle are allowed to commingle with the U.S. herd, enter the U.S. food supply and enter the non-ruminant U.S. animal feed system. The USDA must protect the U.S. cattle herd, and consumers, from the introduction of BSE.
Thursday, May 14, 2009 NAIS will Reduce Competition in U.S. Cattle Industry
NAIS will reduce, if not eliminate, competition in the U.S. cattle and beef industries by granting meatpackers access to proprietary information now held by those markets and feedlots, vis--vis the 15-digit identifier. Red this op-ed to find out more.
Friday, May 1, 2009 Western Ag Reporter Attacks Cattle Producers; Infers Organization Compromised Member Policy on NAIS (2 comments)
Western Ag Reporter Editor, Linda Grosskopf, published a headline that reads, "NAIS...Has R-CALF had a change of mind? If so, what about their policy?" With this headline, Grosskopf publicly and incorrectly raises the specter that because R-CALF USA supports the expansion of the preexisting brucellosis-type identification system the organization has reversed its strong opposition to NAIS.
Saturday, April 25, 2009 Group Applauds FDA Decision to Immediately Implement Enhanced U.S. Feed Ban (1 comments)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) resisted efforts by agribusiness interests to delay implementation of an enhanced U.S. feed ban designed to strengthen safeguards against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) for both consumers and cattle. The enhanced feed ban will be implemented on schedule, though full compliance will not be expected until October.
Saturday, April 18, 2009 To USDA: NAIS an Invasive, Unlawful Encumbrance on Commerce
NAIS is a radical departure from the highly successful, preexisting disease programs and represents an unwarranted expansion of government agency power that R-CALF USA believes is prohibited under our Constitution.
Saturday, April 18, 2009 FDA Plans to Break Food Safety Promise to America (2 comments)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to break its promise to American consumers to timely upgrade the animal feed ban designed to protect U.S. consumers and the U.S. cattle herd against the heightened risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow disease).
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Group Brings Vilsack 8-Point Alternative to NAIS
In formal correspondence sent to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today, R-CALF USA has recommended an 8-point alternative course to the controversial National Animal Identification System (NAIS), originally forced on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) by the previous Administration.
